Synthetic amorphous sodium aluminosilicates have commonly been used in paints, coatings, and other applications as extender pigments. For example, sodium aluminosilicate commercial products such as Zeolex® 323 and Zeolex® 330 provide excellent opacity, whiteness, brightness, flatting, and scrub resistance for interior architectural formulations. Typically, aluminosilicates used in these applications are used at levels between 2% and 10%. Recently, there have been growing concerns about the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) in indoor air, as well as potential health effects associated with these compounds. In fact, the US EPA has noted a 2 to 5 fold increase in indoor air VOC's, as compared to outdoor air, due to building construction advances that focus on energy conservation and sealing a building from air leaks. Unfortunately, there are many sources of indoor VOC's and these include furniture, carpets, and other floor coverings, as well as other building materials such as insulation and household items. The major VOC's found in indoor air include aldehydes (e.g., formaldehyde) and toluene. Due to concerns over these indoor VOC's, products designed to remove such contaminants have been developed. These include paints and coatings containing agents that either react or adsorb VOC's to remove them from the air. Molecular sieves, such as crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites, have been evaluated in similar applications, and while not wishing to be bound by theory, Applicant believes that these materials may perform poorly due to their crystallinity and lack of larger transport pores (meso and macropores), which may be important in VOC removal. Additionally, such crystalline materials do not function as TiO2 extenders or improve opacity, and can destabilize coating formulations.
In sum, it would be beneficial for the paint or coating used on an indoor surface, and the amorphous aluminosilicates contained therein, to reduce or abate the VOC level by absorption of certain VOC's present in the air or indoor environment. Accordingly, it is to these ends that the present invention is directed.